As part of our critique of the oil and car culture, to help bring on sustainable living, Culture Change has relaunched the campaign to help stop offshore oil drilling and protect ecosystems. The Committee Against Oil Exploration (CAOE: "K-O") works to connect ourselves (and you) to frontline grassroots groups everywhere working to stop new exploration for petroleum.

Committee Against Oil Exploration

Expanded offshore oil drilling?

President Obama's recent announcement to open Eastern coastal areas to offshore oil drilling is a shock to many. Most of us have heard that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, thought to be the U.S.'s grand hope for massive new oil, has been protectedâfor now. (It would provide less than a year's worth of
driving for the U.S. vehicle fleet.) Other parts of the country are still threatened, and grassroots groups need help in places such as the Rocky Mountain area. With lessened
environmental regulation as industry's payoff after installing corporate collaborators in government, maximum petroleum exploitation is sought everywhere possible.

Culture Change is taking the nation's disastrous energy waste head on, with our Committee Against Oil Exploration, to wean our society off diminishing, unreliable supplies that just add to global warming, road slaughter, and more.

CAOE seeks to protect sensitive ecosystems from oil pollution and promote maximum conservation to curb dependence on all fossil fuels. If people did not buy so much oil or so many new vehicles, the economy would be rapidly transformed, albeit with serious adjustment difficulties due to the economy's hypersensitivity to the car and related industries. Yet, we must make the transition to a sustainable society the best we can, in hopes of minimizing damage to the Earth and ourselves. Some of us see cultural change, such as no more new oil drilling, as integral and inevitable. Oil dependence will end, as weird as that appears to corporate interests, as part of creating a sustainable society.

"U.S. seaports are the largest and most poorly regulated sources of urban pollution in the country." -- NRDC, Harboring Pollution

Background and Vision

Oil and natural gas are so dominant and subsidized that alternative solutions seem out of reach. Change happens whether we are ready or not. Global oil production is peaking right about now; the downslope means that growth for the world corporate economy is directly threatened.

Everyone must get ready for sustainable alternatives to survive oil scarcity. Isn't it time
for a cap on much of the greenhouse gases, such as from offshore oil drilling as a form of fossil fuel combustion? It's time to make it happen. One reason is that technofixes for a huge, green consumer economy are not truly sustainable, even if they were ready now. Meanwhile their assumed arrival puts off serious and overdue cuts in energy waste today. We will incorporate slashing energy use now with our efforts to stop the exploitation of oil fields that should be off limits forever. Help bring this about by linking together with us.

Most Americans agree itâs time to protect the environment and stop giving out more corporate welfare to the polluting energy companies. Offshore oil drilling and development of the East Coast and the sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) are questionable supply-bandaids to try delaying the inevitable post-peak oil collapse by a few years. Local-based groups are understaffed and underfunded for this daunting task in their threatened areas. Our attention to their struggles is a significant way to help galvanize support.

Dump more than 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluid and metal cuttings into the ocean;

Drill between 50-100 wells, each dumping 25,000 pounds of toxic metals, such as lead, chromium and mercury, and potent carcinogens like toluene, benzene, and xylene into the ocean, and

Pollute the air as much as 7,000 cars driving 50 miles a day.

History of accidents and violations

In May 1992, Chevron USA pleaded guilty to 65 violations of the Clean Water Act and paid $8 million in fines for illegal discharges from the company's production platform of the California coast.

In March 1997, Chevron was fined 1.2 million for operating a well off the coast of Ventura with a broken ant-blowout valve, a key environmental protection on an offshore oil well.

In 1998, a rupture in Torch Oil's pipeline spilled 21,000 gallons of oil, damaging a rich ocean fishing ground and killing wildlife in the delicate coastal ecosystem at the mouth of the Santa Ynez River.

State and local authorities repeatedly cited the Venoco Corporation for releases of deadly hydrogen sulfide gas at its Goleta platform in 1998-99.

An ARCO pipeline ruptured in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, spilling 193,000 gallons of oil into the Santa Clara River.

Global oil extraction history

Since 1859, 800 billion barrels of oil have been burned worldwide.

The oil industry spends approximately $150 billion annually to search for new drilling sites.

There is an ecological limit to the use of oil: scientists warn of serious global warming as we continue to burn more and more oil.

Since 1988, the oil industry has drilled more than 100,000 exploratory wells, threatening frontier forests in 22 countries, coral reefs in 38 countries, mangrove swamps in 46 countries, indigenous people on six continents, and global climate stability worldwide.

"Oil in ANWR is scattered in many separate pools, so drilling rigs would be spread all across the coastal plain. The roads linking those rigs aren't part of the 2,000 acres: they're not "production and support facilities." -- Paul Krugman, New York Times op-ed March 1, 2002, shattering the Bush/oil industry myth that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would only impact 2,000 acres.

To become part of CAOE, email or write to us at
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, or send mail to P.O. Box 4347, Arcata, CA 95518 USA. The Committee Against Oil Exploration already has some strategy in motion to link up grassroots groups and give them broader support.

Also, support the campaign for the "No Action" alternative in the governmentâs current proposal to allow oil and gas lease sales in Alaskan and Gulf outer continental shelf areas from 2002-2007. Send a letter to President Obama and your Congressional Representatives and tell them you are one more citizen against new offshore oil drilling.

Web resources for activism:

World Oil Reduction for the Gulf is a longer-term approach to deal with catastrophic oil spills. WORG is the Culture Change-led coalition formed to respond to the BP-Macondo well blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

the govenment should leave the protected areas alone. if they are allowed to go in and drill they will kill the remaining wild life in the countrie. there should be an alternate way of getting more energy that i know we need, but leave what is protected, and should be protected alone. the are ways like wind mills or solar pannels that allow us to get energy with out harming any wildlife or habitats.

we need to off shore oil drill.. you enviormentalist have to be quiet we are going to be in a trillion dollar dept if we do not off shore oil drill and start build nuclear plants. what are we going to when countries(mostly china) stop lending us money

who cares about wild life. the usa is falling behind to countries who hate us the russians and chinese...if offshore oil drilling does not happen we would be in a 1 hundread thousand dollar per person dept

they need to go back to the old way of doing things stop this offshore drilling Now! you are killing off everything with your stupidity and all for the mighty dollar . is it worth it? you will keep up your nonsense till there is no sea life no place safe to swim when people all over the world start to go hungry then you ask yourselves was it worth it? i am pissed off that there is more disasters of this type that happenes more and more and you are to idiotic and to money hungey to see what it is doing! GIVE IT A REST

There are many things going on here at once that we and our children will pay for. These are the precious things like life and health and survival.

When oil is drilled for purposes of transportation and pocket lining of the elite capitalists involved, we put lives on the line. There is a cost to every choice made in this life. By agreeing to drill oil, we agree to give away nature; one irresponsibility at a time. Once nature is gone, so are we. It's done for money? For cars that we've had 100 HUNDRED years to improve upon to remove our reliance from a pollution based delivery system called oil? Words cannot express how far this goes beyond disgust and greed.

Pay 10 dollars per gallon for your death gas while the earth cries and slowly kills your children as a result of your own actions, while better options that remove pollution, provide sustainable fuel are available. Invest in Algae biofuel auto making initiatives and producers not held by greedy elitist oil company corporations. We have been lied to enough and there has been too much corruption.

it is happeneing because of greed . big business are about money! i am from canada and when i see the total lack of responsiblity in not caring for the environment it makes me sick! they have destroyed peoples livelyhoods kills wildlife poisoned our oceans and land. can't they see their greed is killing everything? bastards! preserve land for the animals stop building subdivisions stop choking off the earth with your greedy mistakes . as far as obama goes well i hope he sees what mistakes are all about ! get rid of the offshore drilling all together find an alternative way to do things without oil

I live in the Florida keys ( key largo)close to the everglades, just imagine whats going to happen to the biggest ecological system in the universe. Well, if the oil hits the everglades, i think we are in big trouble as the fish,birds,and every animal that thrives in these waters will migrate if they have the chance or die. The mangroves will start to die off and not to mention that half of Florida water supply comes from the everglades, president should take all bp's money and ask for more to get the super top dogs to handle this, like NASA. Nasa is sitting on there ass watching the sea turn black,although they want to help,but the gov has to give them MULA

who cares about trillion dollar deficits and $20 gallon gas? Money means nothing in true existence. We think it does in our tiny and insignificant lives, but does not. You owe your damn life to this planet...Literally. You really want to shit on the only source of life in the known universe for $20? Is it really worth $20 to you? Nevermind that when you get off the oil teet you will create an entire commerce with alternate sources of energy. Sacrifice something for once in your life. Die a real hero and say screw oil.

I need help in getting my proposed plan to stop the oil in the gulf, into the appropriate hands. Too many engineers have taken far too long in stopping this mess, and our Presidents needs to start focusing on solutions for stopping the oil, as it is destroying life on land as well as at sea. I will only disclose plans to stop the oil with the attention of the White House, but need help getting there. Organizations such as yours have the means in which to contact groups in the gulf. That's all I'm asking here. Just a name and a phone number. Thank You, Sincerely Michael Gannelli

If you want to protect the environment it will take some more realistic brainstorming for solutions. Cutting off all oil production because you believe driving cars is what it's all about is naive. You can yell about the evils of oil all day but you run home at night and turn on the t.v., wash your hair, live in a roof with shingles, brush your teeth, and walk around on carpet in your home. Guess what? They are all products that contain oil. How do you propose to cut out all oil production and have the things you use everyday to live your environmentally "responsible" lives? There are more questions you should all ask yourself before calling oil evil. Maybe you could all live in a dirt house and brush your teeth with twigs...oh yeah...that would be mean to the dirt and the trees. Good luck with your idealism.

I agree with Melanie. You complain about how much oil we're using and how we are so dependent on it, but do you realize how much you probably use it through out your day to day lives? They have ways now to protect animals and such life from being hurt, accidents happen and there is nothing to stop that. We need to find our own oil so we can come out of this national "hole" we have put ourselves in.

ooooooookay. i remember when obama had made some promises, i thought one of 5 of his biggest probs was tryin to fix the pollution. we had electric cars that are supposed to have already bin on the market, but it seems that no one wants to buy them because there have ether bin: A.no such thing as an electric car (but it is true that there are) or B.nobody really cares.

i myself am very very P'd off because of the so called crisis right now because of oil shortages. there is an oil shortage and we are losing more oil by the day and all we are doing is trying to find a new sub for oil to make gas, in stead we should just fill it with a source of like idk maybe a source that is healthier than gas like hmmmmmmm THE SUN!!!!! If someone wants to take this to the government and help me E-mail me at
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or on facebook. if yer not good with facebook and dont know how to find people, just add the E-mail and then look for my name: Spencer Howard for everyone who reads this and is concerned thank you but for all the other jerk off's who dont really care get lost.

..No one cares about the debt, the United States did it to them selfs,There not going to stop drilling, if you think they are your crazy. there stop when every last drop is gone, to them it doesnt matter cause there getting paid.

Obama is a liar. Promises were not kept. Some people should've known better than to trust him and he should've known better than to make promises to his people that he knew he wouldn't be able to keep. Nature is important, we are apart of it! So, we all are in this stupid hole filled with idiotic people who do this kind of crap for money. A lot of people since way back when have always been money hungry and greedy. Why would any of you think they would stop now? So, we're screwed. Yay..................

I see where some of you are coming from with the whole "oil is needed for more than cars" and you're right, BUT I believe that MOST of the oil we use is for vehicles and it's a double whammy because of the pollution aspect, since it is heated and then released into the air. No one is saying that oil is of the devil and no one is saying that we can eliminate our use of oil all in one go. But we have to start somewhere.

The only reason i even went to this site is the project im working on says that i have to have reasons against drilling. Otherwise, i would have been mad at my sister if she went on this site! The animals LIKE the drilling! It keeps the bugs away! Im 13, and im smarter than you idiots. Thats sad.

Animals do not "LIKE the drilling," use common sense. They can DIE from offshore drilling. Toxic substances released from the drilling can kill the animals, if the concentration is high enough. Plus, oil spills? Hmm, yeah I think the animals "LIKE" drowning in oil. Sounds like a good way to die. Are you kidding me?! Yeah, you're 13, and you have no idea what the hell you're talking about, so how about you do some research before saying that the animals "LIKE the drilling! It keeps the bugs away!" ....Looks like you're the idiot here. Kay thanks.

What is wrong with you environmentalist wackos! God gave us a land to take care of yes! But God also gave us a land where we have the resources to use what God has given us! Who cares about those stupid animals up there in Alaska! If evolution is true then why don't they just adapt to the situation... you know survival of the fittest. God intended for the animals to be subject to man and thus the needs of man are greater than the needs for an animal. Yes, I will admit there are those few idiots out there that will be cruel to animals; but come on drilling for oil is cruel to animals! Give me a break

IF you wouldn't be busy sticking you dicks into toasters to help save the envoroment then maybe you would pay attention to what is happening with this economoy!! If you use as many as our resorces as we can then just maybe we can start rissing up agian in this World. So too all of you parents that get pissed off at little thirteen year olds get a life seriously!!

my belief is that the earth gets its oils from the oils from man-kind. Scence there is now a shortage, I believe that there should be no oil taken out for a month to let the earth recouperate. The Earth cannot explain to eleryone how things work...

I e-mailed you earlier @ large business organizations. There is a no-harm contact in effect there should be no more human sacrafice The Earth does not like it. It is not okay to intentally hurt the earth for your countrie(s) to have more $. If you were doing something right than your land would be prosperous on its own. like for instance the water could be sucked and used for recycled water, like the oil. arizona has to give mexico water every month by law and nothing has been done to suck water for vegitation... that can change still. Every day is a learning experience, and being a lehman is only an excuse so long.

Offshore drilling might be 'dirty", but so is a hybrid car's battery. It is even more damaging to the environment. Look, I am not a huge supporter of oil companies making killer profits, but that is what they do for a living, and we must regulate, not disintegrate our capabilities. If ever company stopped drilling for oil or gas, we would not die, but we would have a hard time transporting our goods to stores, or getting our kids to school. It’s time to innovate not cut the floor underneath us.

The following message has been sent. Attention: General Comment Message: I am 70 years old and was forced to retire when I was almost 62 and I am now a retired (disabled left arm&ptsd) vietnam war veteran. I am not real good with the computer but I have finally found what I know to be the truth of 911. It made me sick of heart to realize that I and all americans were directly responsible for 911. Osama Bin Laden was only a tool made so by oil rich individuals within saudi arabia whom Osama and the underprivileged he recruited tried to overthrow! Osama saw the yoke of servitude that his people of like religeon were under and instead of leading the privileged life of the rich instead choose to fight for the underprivileged against those who had ceased to follow Islam and love all followers. He and his some of his followers were arrested and because of the Bin Laden family's hugh influence stopped the killing of Osama. Others meanwhile convinced Osama and his followers that the U.S. was indeed the culprit because of the money going to all countrys in the middle east and corrupting many governments and their people. Osama then totally tweaked by the elders, who he respected, and members of his own family then went out to cut off the head of the snake which is of course us the great satan. He devised a plan then made his clarion call to all his followers within Saudi Arabia. Then of course all of us know what happened. Today on 7/20/11 the money trail we should have followed and found what had really happened is still not being followed today! More players are now in place with their hero being of course Osama Bin Laden. Their is every reason now why all of us should mobilize and get a large group on the floor of congress and demand an end to the money flow that will surly end up with a nuclear or biological diaster in our homeland. The only 2 things that need to be done are the same 2 that I send to all members of congress on a weekly basis and they do not listen, as they are too wrapped up in combating the Obama entitlement carrot that all democrats are following. I have seen and heard some whispers of the nuclear modules only. They have no sense of direction and not at all like the democratic party which I used to belong too. My 2 items that I harp on follow; Italy, Russia, Japan(now that they blew it on cheaper dangerous reactors)France, and many other nations are using the totally safe, self-contained with no external cooling needed, the same nuclear modules that the U.S. developed for our nuclear ships and the russians starting out went with an inferior design which resulted in several incidents. These modules are totally safe and refueled in 30 years and the rods go inert in 10 years and can then be handled by the bare human hand and recycled to make new uranium coated rods. These reactors throughout our country would provide the power needed for the 2nd item I have been hitting congress with and that is the 230 mile range car that Tesla Motors has currently in Fremont, ca. I proposed that same scenario that "Red" and his bunch did at the "skunk works" and developed the fastest manned plane ever in only 7 months. It is called the SR-71 or "Blackbird". I hope now you see what I have presented to both houses of Congress. A concerted effort with the full backing of the U.S. government to work with tesla engineers and all auto makers engineers to perfect a cheap 250 mile range electric car that any of us would be proud to buy as we would be doing it in memory of our loved ones and preventing future victims. We could plug this car in every night and go with a "full" tank on our commute. It lasts 10 years. I think you now see that the money flow would stop quickly, and I know as you now know that the only way is for you folks to address Congress and ask why they do not stop their insanity and both houses focus on stopping the catastrophe that will surly hit us soon unless we act immediately. Both of these projects should be done in the name of National Security which they surely are! Isn't it odd that Admiral Rickover long ago developed the technology that other country's are using today and wonder whats wrong with the United States! Thank you, Sid Schrage-red bluff, ca.
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GOSH, you people are so selfish. who cares about the economy and how easy life can be. All people need to survive is food, water, and shelter. Guess what? if this keeps going we will no longer have food or shelter. Yes, it may take more than 200 years for all the fresh water and food to die out, but it is headed that way.Then, as the superior animal, we will die out as well for the stupidity of our earlier actions.

ok to all of the people that blame obama for the oil crisis is wrong! Weve been having this prob back when George Bush was back in office. You that guy that did nothing but start a war that nobody can stop over OIL. Hello people think. At least hes TRYING. You people are too stuck up and rasist to see what is really going on!

In my honest, 17 year old teenage opinion, I believe America should be concerned about the environment. I think the specific problem that lies with off shore (deep water drilling to be exact) drilling is the oil companies. I know, they are trying to make money, and yes they do employ a lot of people, but there is so much more they could do. If they made a bigger effort to really look for safer ways, and maybe someone at the top could handle a self-pay cut (doubt it), it would pay off in the long run. 1) Pay cut of top offices at Oil Companies would give the company good publicity 2) Probably could make that money back over time with more people buying your safely retrieved oil than competitors. 3) Other companies will want to surpass them, and we have a race for safe oil as a result (think NASA vs Soviet Russia as a raw example)

Now I live in Florida, so I feel the pain of seeing where I grew up being hit so hard, both economically and enviormentally. If people cannot respect the environment, they cannot possibly have respect for one another. Yes, I realize that I use oil everyday to power my home and my life. So I vow to use LESS, by turning off lights, quicker showers, less TV and dare I say it, less computer time. All of that free time not watching TV or being on the computer could be spent outside, enjoying time with friends and family. Sounds like a good life. No excuse me, I have to go write a Government paper on the Position of why I think Deepwater drilling is bad, and maybe I'll even hand write it.

American oil companies are not only polluting and destroying environment in Gulf of Mexico and US continent, but also damaging eco systems all over the world. One example is Newfield Oil Company from Texas, recently entering into South China Sea for offshore oil drilling. Although the region has been tapped by foreign and Chinese oil companies for over two decades, with very fragile eco-systems hardly surviving the pollution, many more oil companies are heading for oil money in South China Sea. Cooperating with China National Offshore Oil Co., they all believe the tremendous oil reservoir, which is subject to serious doubt, will bring them very high profit. With much looser laws and almost no surveillance, these companies can do much much more harm in developing countries than they are allowed to do in developed countries.

In this world we are subject to the laws of physics, unfortunately there is no such thing as a free lunch. If you really want to stop oil exploration there is a fool proof way to do so. Stop consuming oil. Without a market, the production of this resource will come to a stop. Im not talking about switching to "hybrids", or turning your thermostat down. The use of oil in our daily lives is not limited to its application in relation to energy. Countless products are created through the manipulation of chemicals derived from the distillation of crude oil. In order to completely stop oil exploration, no longer can we use the following products: Anything plastic, this includes fabrics made from compounds such as nylon, rayon, polyester,.ect. No PVC piping in your home, no heating and or cooling of you home. We will have to give up the larger portion of the modern medicine we enjoy because the chemicals which we depend upon are based on the hydrocarbons from oil. No more computers, internet, electronic banking. The modern fishing industry cannot opperate without diesel fuel and thousands of other petroleum based products. Farming on a scale large enough to support the current population would not be possible without mechanized practices. The mining and refinement of phosphorus and nitrates to support the growth of our agriculture depends upon petroleum. No one could use any tooth paste or hair products. No more of that coffee everyone loves so much, it grows in tropical regions, how do you think it gets her, magic. The same goes for fruits and vegetables out of season or location. How do you think you can buy bananas, peaches, oranges. ect in the middle of winter. Do U think that it just appears on the shelves of your local super market. Say good buy to refrigeration and all of the industries which depend upon it, such as the storage of human blood for medical purposes. The list goes on and on, Not to mention the hybrids you love so much, they are not so environmentally friendly after all. Where do you think that the 300kg lithium battery comes from, or the 100kgs of coppper wire which makes up its charging system. All of these things come from the Earth. In order to extract copper from an ore body, the ore is mined using explosives and lots of diesel fuel, an entire valley some where in Arizona or Utah is lined with plastic and filled with ore, Then a solution of sulfuric, or hcl acid is leached through the rock to extract the metals. By the time you have produced a hybrid, it would have been more efficient to just drive around a Hummer. The sad fact is that modern society cannot exist in its current state or magnitude without the exploitation of petroleum. Do I think that this is a good thing, no. I think that we can try to be as responsible as we can while we produce these resources, but we cannot stop without suffering a massive loss of population and quality of life. Don,t worry i'm a geologist, in another ten thousand years or so humans will be wiped from the earth by some cataclysmic geologic event if we don't do it ourselves, and there will be no trace of us left in another million or so. These numbers sound large, but in a geologic perspective, our entire existence will amount to the blinking of an eye. So quit your bitching and enjoy what time you have left.

Has no one noticed that the "facts" given here are based purely on opinion? The sources provided are other organizations and nothing presented here is based on factual research derived from scholarly articles. Some people will believe anything they read. Do your research people!

I'm against this because it will ruin the environment and cause many species to become extinct. Not to mention cause pollution to the water and air. And for what oil is worth wrecking the planet. For greed it will not help our economy. It will speed up the climate change. Which means more floods and land erosion. What happened to going green this not it.

I oppose offshore drilling. Pipelines and fracking. They are destroying the environment With oil. By the tons causing pollution and destruction. To our fragile ecosystem all for profit. It is wrong yet they continue to ignore the issues. Lying and denying that is not affecting the climate change. With their toxins every year. Every time the oil prices are low. They panic and this happens. It is not beneficial for our planet or the economy. With every disaster and incident it is costing more money than earning it.It is draining to the pockets. And destroying everything we have

To all you idiots opposing fracking wait for a realy hard winter to set in wait for you to freeze your toes off in a home thats at 30 degrees and outside its 20 below Enviromentalisms a form of ignorance